Well, fall certainly seems to be in the air these days. As if the preliminary changing of our foliage wasn’t enough, we’ve had two weeks straight of cold, rainy weather, making our beautiful sunny days of this summer a distant memory, and all of this has combined to raise our excitement for the coming grouse and woodcock season.

Rudy and Monty have been running the grouse woods the last couple of weeks, checking out some of our old haunts and trying to discover a few new ones. Greta, continuing her best Brett Favre imitation (straight out of retirement in to games, no training camp, thank you!) has been frequently swimming the lake to get in bird finding shape. The “boys” have found their share of birds of both varieties: we encountered 8 grouse at various locations yesterday, and 8 grouse and 7 woodcock in two hours of scouting on Tuesday, an astonishing amount of birds in so little time. Rudy looks to be in fine form right now, and Monty has chipped in with some points as well - he’ll definitely be a mainstay on our hunts this fall.

Of course, we won’t truly know how this fall will turn out until we’re actually foraging the grouse woods, but it looks good right now, which is plenty to get me fired up for the opener in two weeks!

Recommended Reading:"The Complete Book of
Woodcock Hunting"
by Frank Woolner

An informative and exhaustive essay on woodcock. Includes how to hunt them, as well as the migratory habits of this fascinating upland bird.
2011 Season Tote BoardTime in the Woods: app. 161.0 hoursGrouse & Woodcock seen, heard, moved & otherwise molested: 522

Birds / Hour Avg.: 3.24/ Hr

Birds Taken: 34 grouse, 21 woodcock

Recommended Reading:"A Grouse Hunter's Almanac"
by Mark Parman

An entertaining look at grouse and why we hunt them. Lots of stories about our canine partners in this experience too, written from a Wisconsin perspective. A great primer for the upcoming season.
2010 Season Tote BoardTime in the Woods: app. 139.5 hours

Grouse & Woodcock seen, heard, moved & otherwise molested: 430

Birds / Hour Avg.: 3.08 / Hr

Birds Taken: 26 grouse, 21 woodcock

Recommended Reading:"Grouse Hunter's Guide"
by Dennis Walrod

A very informative and amusing take on why we are devoted to the pursuit of grouse. Lots of statistics back up the author's many claims. Thanks to Paul O'Neill for his recommendation!
2009 Season Tote BoardTime in the Woods: app. 108 hours

Grouse & Woodcock seen, heard, moved & otherwise molested: 320

Birds / Hour Avg.: 3 / Hr

Birds Taken: 17 grouse, 14 woodcock

Recommended Reading: "A High, Lonesome Call"by Robert Holthouser

I'm not just advocating this book because we sell it in the lodge - it's truly a beautiful depiction of going on a bird hunting odyssey out west.
But beware: read it and you may go ...